After last month selling off the entirety of his 17.37% stake in Asian casino operator Summit Ascent Holdings Limited, Hong Kong-based businessman Lawrence Ho Yau Lung (pictured) has now resigned as the firm’s Chairman. Summit Ascent Holdings Limited is responsible for the Tigre de Cristal hotel and casino in Russia’s Primorsky Krai gambling zone. December also saw Taipei-headquartered First Steamship Company Limited assume a majority stake in the firm courtesy of a share purchase deal worth approximately $253,000.
Via a Thursday filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (pdf), Summit Ascent Holdings Limited additionally revealed that Ho has subsequently been replaced by Kuo Jen Hao, Chairman and General Manager for First Steamship Company Limited, while Ho Siu Pik has now assumed the role of its Company Secretary in place of the departing Leung Hoi Wai.“The board would like to take this opportunity to express its sincere gratitude to Mr Ho for his valuable contributions to the group during his tenure of office,” read the filing from Summit Ascent Holdings Limited.
According to a report from GGRAsia, Summit Ascent Holdings Limited posted an overall loss of approximately $691,000 for the first six months of last year compared to a profit of around $703,800 for the same period in 2016 and is facing the prospect of its bottom line being further negatively impacted by a planned increase in Russian casino duties. A possible increase to the tax burden on casinos based in Russia could reduce Summit Ascent’s 2018 earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation by as much as 6 percent, brokerage Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd said in a note in late November. Phase one of Tigre de Cristal opened in autumn 2015. The resort is currently the only casino property in operation in the Primorye region of Russia.
Summit Ascent said in August that it expected to open the first stage of Phase II of its Tigre de Cristal property “in the second half of 2019”.
“Mr Kuo has several years of experience in investment advisory, financial advisory and corporate finance at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Private Equity Management Group and held various key roles at several private and listed companies engaging in administrative and corporate business, corporate finance and general management in real estate development, shipping business, retail business and logistics business,” read the filing from Summit Ascent Holdings Limited. “Mr Kuo has a wealth of experience in business strategy development and innovation management.”
